Robin Hood Heist - Stealth Level Design
In this environmental storytelling level inspired by Robin Hood folklore, I designed a stealth-based heist experience that unfolds across three distinct zones: the castle gardens, the underground sewers, and the castle interior. Click below to watch a walkthrough video of the level.
Planning
Before spending any time in Unity, I began working on my level by finding references for Castle, Garden Maze, and Sewer / Dungeon environments and creating paper maps to focus on modular layout and player flow. Click on each image to understand more on each environment
In the maze at the beginning of the level, teaches the player two mechanics (1) Using Distractor game objects to distract guards and (2) Hiding Volumes to hide from guards during their patrols.
Hiding Volume Prefab
Distractor Prefab
Gold Bag Collectable Prefab
Iteration
(1) Grey Box
(2) First Playable
(3) Alpha
(4) Beta
(5) Final
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Building Level Geometry
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Scaling and Building Modularly
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Added Guard basic prehab NPCs
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Base Prefab for Distractors
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Further level geometry editing
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Completed base platforming for sewer / dungeon
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Added checkpoint markers to mark player progress.
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Added Treasure collect to "complete level"
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Created environmental art prefabs
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First Baked Lighting
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Refined Castle geometry and 2nd Floor
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Added more barriers to access "out-of-bounds" areas
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Added more environmental art prefabs
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First pass at texturing sewer and castle interiors.
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Created objectives + tracking system in pause menu
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Testing for bugs in objectives and "out-of-bounds"
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Added readable objects for lore / story telling
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Added more hiding volumes in maze
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Creating curtain hiding volume for castle interior
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Improved guard NPC patrols
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More art / environmental assets in castle interior and sewer / dungeon
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Added game over screen for completing the level.
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Finalized texturing
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Created gold bag "collectable item" and quest.
Objective System
I created an objective system to guide players through the Robin Hood level by teaching mechanics, encouraging exploration, and tying progress to story beats. Early objectives introduce stealth tools like distractors and hiding volumes, with feedback confirming completion. Objectives were designed to avoid giving away solutions and only triggered when players encountered the necessary interaction, such as pickpocketing a guard. To promote exploration, players also had to collect eight gold bags hidden throughout the castle, while certain objectives revealed lore and background to enrich the narrative.
Level Design through each Milestone
First Playable ----> Beta
Sewer / Dungeon
Castle Main Entrace
Castle Dinning Room
